Tuberculosis Assignment

Description of the Disease

Tuberculosis is a bacteria which affects the lungs but it can also attack other body parts such as the brain, kidney, and the spine(Harcourt Health Sciences, 2001). However, not every person who is affected by tuberculosis shows signs of sickness, and as such, tuberculosis manifests with two conditions: TB disease, and latent TB infection (LTI). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention add that if the bacteria is not well treated, it sometimes can be fatal.

The Latent TB Infection

Tuberculosis can be present in one's body and it does not make them fall sick. If diagnosed, this form of TB is called the Latent TB Infection. Many a time, when a person breathes in a TB bacteria and they become infected, the body's blood cells are able to fight the bacteria and stop them from spreading within the body. Patients with latent TB infections show signs such as: patient does not show any signs and symptoms of tuberculosis such as coughing, the patient does not fall sick, they cannot spread the bacteria to others, and they have a positive TB blood test or skin test. However, the patient is susceptible to developing TB disease in the case instance they do not receive treatment for latent TB infection. Many patients with the latent TB infection do not develop TB disease (Harcourt Health Sciences, 2001). In such patients, the bacterium stays inactive for a lifetime and does not develop into TB disease. But in people with a weak immunity, the bacteria becomes active, and it multiplies to cause tuberculosis.

Tuberculosis Disease

As mentioned above, if the patient's immune system is weak, the bacterium becomes active. When the bacterium becomes active and multiplies in the body, this is what is called tuberculosis disease. Patients with TB disease are sick and they are also able to spread the bacterium to others. Also, HIV patients are highly susceptible of developing TB disease once affected by the bacterium. Common signs and symptoms of TB disease include; severe cough that lasts more than 3 weeks, pain in the chest, coughing sputum/blood, weight loss, weakness/fatigue of the body, chills, lost appetite, sweating at night, and evening and night fever (Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis, 2022). The patient if tested returns a positive blood or skin of TB, and they also spread the bacterium to others. Last of all, patients with TB disease need urgent treatment to heal the signs and symptoms of the disease and to further prevent them from spreading the bacterium in public.

Causes of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is mainly caused by a bacterium called mycobacterium tuberculosis. Also, patients with tuberculosis disease or active TB also in the lungs or voice box spread the disease. These individuals release tiny droplets when they cough that carries the bacteria through air. This happens not only when they cough but also whenever they sneeze, laugh, sing, and speak. People nearby the patient then contract the bacterium when they inhale the droplets of the affected person and the germs enter their lungs (Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis, 2022). Also, tuberculosis spreads fast when people are in gatherings. People with a weak immune system and those with HIV disease are susceptible to TB disease compared to people with a strong immune system and those that are HIV negative.

Physiological Mechanism of the Respiratory System

Tuberculosis is a chronic lung disease that falls within the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). The disease is characterized by slow progressive irreversible obstruction of the airflow. Patients diagnoses with tuberculosis show varying degrees of chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and small airways(International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 1997). Tuberculosis impairs the respiratory system in the form of forced vital capacity (FVC). The bacterium also reduces he post-bronchodilator response in patients with active tuberculosis showing an irreversible nature of airflow obstruction. The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) says that patients with a history of tuberculosis have a high chance of developing airflow obstruction in their old age on the ratio of 2.5. The severity and frequency of obstruction in airflow coincides with the number of tuberculosis episodes. The structural damage of the lungs raises with an increase in the number of the episodes of tuberculosis and persists in patients despite the use of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

Required Dosage of Medication

Weight based dosing for patients with Tuberculosis

Reflection

My dosing of the oral anti-tuberculosis drugs in the table above was calculated based on my patient's weight. Observably, my dosing of the anti-tuberculosis was high in patients with a higher weight as compared to lean patients. This was at the back of my knowledge that drug clearance is high in obese patients/people. On the other hand, drug clearance correlates effectively in low weight patients. Usually, a patient's body weight affects the medicine, distribution, absorption, elimination, or metabolism. Similarly, the above factors determine how medicine reacts in a patient's body. Patients with a high body mass index easily absorb and digest medicine leaving it with less time to kill bacterium and infections that maybe affecting the body. In contrast, lean people gradually metabolise the drug and have a low body mass index which allows the medicine to saturate in the different parts of the body thereby working to kill germs and bacterium. I therefore body weight to be an effective metric for dosing since it informs dosing measures that can work effectively in the different types of patients.